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A group of astronomers have discovered “Farout,” the most distant object ever observed in our solar system.

On Monday, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced the space finding and gave “Farout” the provisional designation 2018 VG18, Carnegie Institution for Science announced in a press release.

“Farout” was found by Carnegie’s Scott S. Sheppard, University of Hawaii’s David Tholen, and Northern Arizona University’s Chad Trujillo. Their research was funded by NASA Planetary Astronomy grants NNX17AK35G and 80NSSC18K1006.

The team called 2018 VG18 “Farout,” due to its extremely distant location in the solar system. “Farout” is located at approximately 120 astronomical units (AU). One AU is equivalent to the space between Earth and the sun. Pluto, the furthest of the nine planets, is at roughly 34 AU, making “Farout” more than 3.5 times more distant than the dwarf planet. Meanwhile Eris, the second furthest object spotted in our solar system, is placed at about 96 AU.

Extremely far space objects, such as “Farout,” could give clues to what’s happening on the edge of the solar system. The team hasn’t determined 2018 VG18’s orbit activity yet, so they can’t tell if its movements are potentially shaped by Planet X, a suspected planet that’s called “Planet 9” and is located really far from the sun.

“All that we currently know about 2018 VG18 is its extreme distance from the sun, its approximate diameter, and its color,” Tholen said in the press release. “Because 2018 VG18 is so distant, it orbits very slowly, likely taking more than 1,000 years to take one trip around the sun.”

Discovery images of “Farout” were taken on November 10, 2018 at Japanese Subaru 8-meter telescope, which is located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. When the team discovered “Farout,” it took multiple nights of observing to determine its AU distance. In early December, “Farout” was seen a second time at the Magellan telescope placed at Carnegie’s Chile-based Las Campanas Observatory.

The Magellan telescope confirmed that “Farout” is the first solar system object seen beyond 100 AU. Its brightness revealed that it’s approximately 500km in diameter, making it a dwarf planet. “Farout” also has a pinkish color, which is connected to ice-rich objects.

“This discovery is truly an international achievement in research using telescopes located in Hawaii and Chile, operated by Japan, as well as by a consortium of research institutions and universities in the United States,” Trujillo said in the press release. “With new wide-field digital cameras on some of the world’s largest telescopes, we are finally exploring our solar system’s fringes, far beyond Pluto.”